The Way of Love

by Tracie Peterson

  But then on the sixteenth of April, Grace and Alex Armistead appeared at the front door of the boardinghouse, suitcases in hand.

  Faith was nearest the door at the sound of the knocker and had opened it to the joyful expressions of her aunt and uncle. She couldn’t help but be excited by their arrival.

  “I didn’t know you were coming so soon. How wonderful!” She embraced them both.

  “I asked them to come early,” Seth said behind her. “I was beginning to worry that the ladies were going to chain you up so you couldn’t leave the house.”

  Faith laughed and pulled back from her aunt’s embrace. “I feared the same thing myself. I thought maybe Nancy had taken pity on me.”

  “Well, now there will be two of us, and everyone can relax,” Grace declared.

  “I’ll show you to your room,” Seth said, reaching out to help Alex with the suitcases. “I hope you like it. We sent all the way to California for the mattress on the bed.”

  “Goodness, you needn’t have done that,” Grace replied.

  “Speak for yourself,” Alex countered, laughing. “I’m excited about the new mattress. If it suits us, we may have to order one for the farm.”

  Faith laughed, as did the others. “It’s so good to have you both here.”

  Nancy came waddling out of the front room. She looked miserable but still smiled. “Mama. Papa. I’m so glad you’ve come.”

  Grace went to her daughter and hugged her. “We wouldn’t have missed this for the world. Just look at you. You look wonderful.”

  “I look fat, like an overstuffed sausage casing. Did Meg come with you?” Nancy looked around for her younger sister.

  “No, she still has classes. She wanted to come, but we promised she could spend some time helping you this summer. The thought of getting to spend time in Portland without her mother and father’s watchful eye ever upon her softened being left behind,” Nancy’s mother explained.

  “It will be good to have her here. I’ll definitely put her to work. We’re going to plant a big garden. Since the storm destroyed the grounds, we’ve been reworking things and trying to figure out what we want and where. We all decided that since I intend to keep up with the boardinghouse, we should have a sizeable garden to help feed everyone.”

  “I think that’s wise,” her mother said.

  “It’s even wiser to show your parents where they’re going to be staying these next few weeks,” Seth said, pretending to be overburdened by the weight of the suitcases.

  “Yes, by all means.” Nancy grinned. “We turned another of the empty downstairs rooms into a bedroom. It’s just down the hall from the bath we added last year, so while you’ll share it with us and Faith, at least it will be close.”

  “It’s nice not worrying about outhouses,” her father called over his shoulder.

  Once he had his in-laws settled, Seth excused himself. “I have a lot of work to contend with today. Don’t wait supper for me. I’ll be at the courthouse a good part of the day and then back at the office until late, working on yet another project.”

  “But tomorrow’s Saturday.” Nancy was less than delighted at the news.

  “I can’t help it. This matter will be resolved first thing Monday morning. I’ll work all day Saturday if need be.”

  “Do you want me to send someone down with your supper?” Nancy asked.

  Seth shook his head. “No. I’ll have the secretary go out and bring something back.” He kissed her forehead and gave her belly a pat. “Take good care of our baby.”

  The tenderness between them stirred Faith’s heart and desire for such a life. She knew the threats Lakewood had made caused more problems than ever before, but they didn’t put an end to her longing. She was grateful that he’d said nothing more on the matter, but she knew her father was still trying to resolve the issue, and what might come out of that was unknown. Mama had written a beautiful letter reminding Faith that she was blessed of God and that He would continue to oversee her entire existence just as He always had. She told Faith to be strong and not fear what man could do. And she assured Faith that she wasn’t afraid of what man could do to her. If the truth was told, then it was told.

  Without classes to attend, Faith did what she could around the house. Since the day was dry and quite warm, she went out to the large plot of ground that they planned to plant. David, the young Irishman who worked for Nancy and Seth, had helped mark it off and plowed it up. Each of the ladies had been working the soil to ready it for planting, and Faith found churning and hoeing the dirt to be therapeutic.

  She pondered how Andrew might be. A part of her wondered if she’d ever see him again. She had acted quite wanton in her response to his touch. She couldn’t blame him at all if he’d been offended. He seemed upset when he’d left. Maybe he somehow knew of her Indian blood. Faith reached down, plucked out a large tuft of grass, and threw it beyond the garden plot.

  “The kiss meant nothing.” It could mean nothing. Faith continued to remind herself of this truth over and over. She had thought it would help if she told herself this enough times, but it made it no easier. The truth was still the truth. That kiss had meant everything.

  Faith lost track of time as she worked in the garden. She was surprised to see how much ground she’d covered when Bedelia showed up to announce that supper would be soon.

  “I’m sorry. I should have been in there helping you.” Faith pushed loose strands of hair away from her forehead.

  “You were doing some good work out here,” Bedelia said, looking at the garden plot. “It looks nearly ready to plant.”

  “We always had big gardens at home.” Faith glanced over the turned earth. “Much bigger than this, but then, we were feeding a lot more people. I think this will give us a great bounty to put up for the winter.”

  “It should cut the cost of the food budget considerably,” Bedelia replied. “I am more than pleased to help, but for now I need to get back to the stove. I left Cornelia to oversee the casserole in the oven, and there’s no telling what might happen.”

  Faith began to walk toward the house, and Bedelia fell in step beside her. “Have you always watched over your sister?”

  “Oh yes. Our mother insisted. Cornelia is rather . . . well, she isn’t quite capable of taking care of herself.”

  Faith frowned. Her medical experience made her curious. “What’s wrong with her? If you don’t mind my asking.”

  “I seldom speak to anyone about it lest I cause Cornelia embarrassment. When she was born, the cord was wrapped around her neck several times. She was without air for a long time. Mother said it made her simple.”

  “Oh. How terrible there wasn’t a proper midwife to see that didn’t happen. Even then, they can’t always prevent such things from happening.”

  Bedelia nodded. “We were poor, and my mother relied upon the help of a neighbor who knew very little. She made me promise from the time I was quite young that I would always look out for Cornelia. It’s the reason I’ve never married.”

  “You sacrificed your life for hers.”

  “I made a promise.”

  “She seems mostly capable.”

  “She is. She is not by any means unable to function. But she has difficulties with many things. I read to her because she was never quite able to master it. She can read a little, but it becomes so burdensome to her that she easily gives up.”

  Faith could better understand the stern, almost harsh personality of Bedelia Clifton considering what she’d just confessed. Here she and the others had presumed Bedelia to be overbearing and demanding. “She is very fortunate to have you. What a tender, giving heart you have.”

  Bedelia blushed and looked away. “Thank you.”

  “I promise to say nothing about this,” Faith added, “but thank you for the trust you have placed in me by telling me your story.”

  Looking up, Bedelia met Faith’s gaze. “I knew that, as a medical woman—a physician—you would understand.”

 
Faith realized the honor Bedelia was bestowing on her and nodded. “I do.”

  Supper came and went, and there was no sign of Seth. Nancy knew he planned to be late, but she was restless and unable to relax, and when the clock chimed nine o’clock and he’d still not returned, she began to fret.

  “He’s never been this late.”

  Her mother sat knitting. “Yes, but he told you he would be quite late. I think you should make your way to bed. Maybe by the time you get ready, he’ll be home.”

  Nancy did her best to pace in front of the fireplace. The baby’s weight was slowing her down more each day. “I just can’t shake the feeling that something isn’t right.”

  “Even if there is a problem, what can we do?” Faith hadn’t really meant to ask the question out loud, but now that she had, there was nothing to do but anticipate Nancy’s answer.

  “Well, we could send someone to check on him. Father could go down to the office and make sure he’s all right.” Nancy gave her mother a hopeful look.

  “And what if Seth is already on his way home? Your father would never know, and he’d get there and then be worried about whether Seth had met with harm.”

  “Yes, but once he came home and found Seth here, then he’d know. And if he came home and Seth wasn’t here, then we’d all know for certain that something was wrong.”

  Grace Armistead put her knitting back into her bag. “Do you honestly want me to go wake up your father?”

  Nancy frowned. “No, I suppose not. I just don’t know what to do. Seth would never stay away this long.”

  “The time could have gotten away from him.” Faith knew the suggestion wasn’t at all helpful, but she was trying to think of possibilities for Nancy to focus on.

  Clementine had been waiting for her brother’s return as well. “I could go. Faith and I could go together.”

  “Absolutely not!” Grace declared. “If anyone is going to go, it will be Alex.” She got up from the chair. “I’ll go wake him.”

  Nancy looked uncertain. “I don’t want to wake him up. I just want to know if Seth is all right. I’m worried that with everything that’s been going on, something has happened. I just have a bad feeling. Oh, I wish I’d put in a telephone.”

  Grace came to her and put her arm around her daughter. “It’s all right. Sometimes we have those feelings for a reason. That’s why I’m going to wake up your father.”

  The sound of someone on the front porch brought a smile to Faith’s lips. “Ah, here he is. I’ll let him in and give him a good piece of my mind for making us worry.” She went to the door and flung it wide. “Seth Carpenter, how dare—” She stopped.

  The man facing her wasn’t Seth. He was a uniformed policeman.

  “Good evening, is this the residence of Seth Carpenter?”

  “It is. Is something wrong?”

  “Are you his wife?”

  Faith shook her head. “Nancy is.” She backed away from the door and toward the front room. “Nancy, you need to come here.”

  Nancy appeared with Grace close beside her. Clementine followed. “What is it? What’s happened to Seth?”

  “Are you Mrs. Carpenter?” the officer asked Nancy.

  “I am. Is my husband all right?”

  “No, ma’am. He’s been hurt pretty badly. He’s in the hospital, and they sent me to tell you he’s gravely injured.”

  “I must go to him.” Nancy looked at her mother.

  The policeman shook his head. “Ma’am, the visiting hours are done for the day. The doctor told me to tell you that if Mr. Carpenter lives through the night, you can visit him in the morning. They won’t be allowing anyone any sooner, because he’s unconscious.”

  Nancy looked as though she might faint. Faith decided to pull rank. “I’m a physician. I’ll go to the hospital and learn what I can.” She looked at Grace, who nodded.

  “You’re in no condition to go, Nancy,” her mother said. “Let Faith go. She’ll be able to tell you what’s going on.”

  “But if he dies . . .” Nancy’s voice broke, and she sobbed against her mother’s shoulder.

  “Try not to worry.” Faith went to the coat tree and took up her jacket. “Officer, do you have a horse?”

  “I do.”

  “Might I ride double with you back to the hospital? That will save me some time.”

  He looked uncertain for a moment, then nodded. “Of course. I’m sorry to have brought you such bad news.”

  “We needed to know,” Grace replied, holding her daughter tight. “Faith, come back to us as soon as you can.”

  Faith nodded. “I will.”

  She followed the officer outside. He climbed atop his horse, then held his hand down for Faith. She hiked up her skirt and barely managed to place her foot in the stirrup. Thankfully the officer had a powerful arm and easily lifted her up, and she sat behind him.

  “Hold on tight.”

  The sound of the horse’s hooves against the brick echoed in Faith’s ears. “What happened to Seth?” she asked.

  “He was beaten. We found him in the street. His injuries are the worst I’ve ever seen, and I’m surprised he’s still alive. If he’s still alive.”

  Faith swallowed hard. “Was most of the trauma to his head?”

  “Yes. It’s like somebody laid into him with a club. They may have busted his arms too. They looked to be in pretty bad shape, and if he was trying to defend himself, they would have taken bad blows.”

  Faith pictured Seth’s body in her mind. She tried to prepare herself for what she would see. When they reached the hospital, she slid off the side of the horse.

  “Thank you. I can make my way from here.”

  She entered the hospital through the same doors she had used when doing her training. This was where the nurses and doctors generally entered, and no one would pay much attention to her at this hour, since most of the doctors would be gone and the nurses would be on their rounds.

  There was no one at the nurse’s desk, so Faith just acted as though she belonged there. She looked through the various record files and found where they had taken Seth. Without even trying to hide her presence, Faith made her way to his room and walked in like she owned the place. There was no one else in the room.

  The lamp offered her ample light to see that Seth was still breathing as she approached the bed. The patient lying in front of her looked nothing like her cousin’s husband. Had it not been for his blood-caked red hair, Faith might have questioned whether she had the right room.

  For a moment her medical training failed her. “Oh, Seth. Who did this to you?”

  She checked him over as best she could. She’d never in all her years of assisting Grace and Hope or helping people on her own seen a man in such bad shape. There was a time when a lumberjack had fallen from high in the trees. He’d hit every branch on the way down, or at least that was what his buddies said. He’d looked very similar to Seth and had died a few hours later.

  “You can’t die, Seth. You have a baby coming and a wife who needs you.”

  Faith finished looking him over, then read the chart at the end of his bed. The doctor’s examination and thoughts matched her own, but where the doctor noted that the injuries were most likely terminal, Faith couldn’t bring herself to agree.

  Hurrying from the room, she made her way outside. She hadn’t considered how she might get home once at the hospital. She glanced around, but there were very few carriages out and about. She tried to find a cab, but even that seemed impossible. There was no choice but to walk.

  The clock in the hall was just chiming the half hour after eleven when Faith finally made it back to the boardinghouse. Grace, Nancy, and Clementine were waiting in the front room. Each woman looked at Faith. The hope in their expressions was almost more than she could bear.

  “It’s bad.” She could barely force out the words.

  “I’m going to him. I won’t let him be there alone,” Nancy said. “I don’t care what any of you say.”

/>   “We’ve already talked about this, Nancy. You must be reasonable,” Grace said, taking hold of her daughter’s arm.

  “He’s my husband. I need to be with him.”

  “And tomorrow you can be,” Faith promised. “The hospital won’t allow you in at this hour, so you might as well get some rest so you can deal with what you see tomorrow. Someone clearly wanted him dead. They beat him with a club or a bat or even just a plank board. It’s hard to tell, but he’s . . . he’s hardly recognizable. I’m sorry to be so blunt, but you need to prepare yourself for the worst.”

  Nancy burst into tears, as did Clementine.

  Faith went to Clementine and put her arm around the younger woman.

  “What is your honest opinion of this, Faith?” Grace asked.

  Faith shook her head. “We need to pray.”

  Grace somehow managed to get Nancy to her room and into bed. Faith wasn’t sure what had been said between mother and daughter, but when Grace reappeared, she seemed at peace. “I’m going to bed. I want to be able to help her in the morning.”

  Faith nodded. Clementine clung to her and sobbed. She doubted either of them would be going to bed anytime soon.

  “He didn’t deserve this,” Clementine murmured. “Who would do such a thing?”

  “I don’t know. It seemed far more deliberate than a mere robbery.”

  “It’s probably because of that investigation. They’d never tell me much, because they said it was dangerous and better that I not know.”

  Faith stared across the room as she held Clementine. She was right. It was probably something to do with Berkshire and Lakewood’s plans. It might even be related to her own defiance.

  Dear Lord, would they really have tried to kill Seth because of my speaking out on behalf of the Indians?

  “I can’t bear the thought of him dying,” Clementine said, seeming to regain control of her emotions. “It’s even worse to imagine him dying alone.”